Feeling the pinch? Why not make your own wedding cake?

For most busy brides-to-be, the idea of a DIY wedding cake sounds frankly terrifying. But if you need to cut costs, making your own cake can lead to big savings, as bought ones can be edible financial bombshells.

Now, unless you’re Nigella Lawson in disguise, the odds are you won’t be able to single-handedly whip up anything on the scale of many luxury cakes you see in specialist bakeries. But making a fruitcake covered in the traditional icing is fairly straightforward, and the techniques will be familiar to anyone who’s made Christmas or other celebration cakes at home.

Ethical Weddings has an easy-to-follow traditional recipe here. You’ll need to make sure you get cracking 8 weeks before your big day, but you’ll be relieved once that major aspect of your planning is out of the way — and just think how chuffed you’ll be telling your guests who made it!

If you’re after a more non-traditional cake, you can leave the cooking till later in the day. This deliciously tempting fairtrade chocolate cake is sure to prove popular, and is based on a really simple recipe.